UPDATE 3/26/14: 2 years to the day of “Perceptions of Pattinson: B.C. (before Cronenberg) to A.D. (after David) @pagemackinley & BuckyW

Edit 3/26/14: I tweeted today- we are two years to the day from my re-blogging of this insightful article. We’re on the cusp of a trailer for Robert Pattinson’s second outing with director David Cronenberg, and a most likely announcement of the film being in competition at Cannes. There’s a strong expectation that Pattinson’s The Rover will also be at Cannes. Let’s take a look at the seismic shift that’s happened in the past two years for Robert Pattinson.

Here’s MacKinley in 2012 with sage advice and observation, as Pattinson was exiting the franchise world to Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis (teaser rocked the internet):

“If you want to see the best from someone, whether actor, director, friend, or stranger, put hasty judgement to one side and they might just show you. As the dust of March 22 settles, this much is clear: Robert Pattinson can act.” ~Page MacKinley

THIS is what has happened- People DID give Pattinson a chance to show us he’s an ACTOR:

These are very exciting times, indeed, to observe the young man who simply wanted to be taken seriously as an ACTOR getting his wish. It must be supremely satisfying for him to know he’s gaining respect for his talent and his willingness to take risks. This is no fluke, this was hard work, patience, and good choices. (And a good performance in Cosmopolis of course.)~BuckyW

Now to the original post from March 26th, 2012:

We recently re-tweeted writer Page MacKinley’s post on movievine.com, which we consider an astute assessment of the reception of critics to Robert Pattinson the actor—B.C., that is “before Cronenberg.”

Well, it’s A.D. now (after David) for Mr. Pattinson, and the author has a lot to say.

We have reposted most of MacKinley’s piece here, where she speaks of how Pattinson’s tremendous success as the lead in the Twilight franchise and the nature of that young adult franchise, led critics and others to question his acting ability.

We direct the reader on to the original source for her excellent synthesis of reactions by critics to the Cosmopolis teaser. LINK HERE

The title of the original movievine.com article is: “Cosmopolis Teaser Seismically Shifts Critics Perceptions of Robert Pattinson.”

Ms. MacKinley, with italics ours for emphasis:

“Revolutions are usually bloody affairs. Sweaty, shouty, violent things that leave a grim taste in the mouth. But sometimes, just sometimes, they’re golden. March 22 was such a day. That was the day, of course, that the online release of David Cronenberg’s first Cosmopolis teaser 180’d the majority critical perception of Robert Pattinson. Critics, film outlets and a multitude of industry commentators previously queueing up to disparage Pattinson’s acting abilities are now saying just the opposite. In fact, they’re openly rapturous.

It wasn’t always thus. Unwilling—or perhaps unable—to see past Summit Entertainment’s YA-geared marketing of Pattinson, as the sensitive vampire rejuvenated by his love for a human teenager, most critics recoiled as Pattinson’s public persona became inextricably entwined with that of the fictional “super boy-friend” Edward Cullen. As the Twilight Saga franchise’s star rose—and that of its young leads-—so did the derision.

While some of the reasons for that can be laid at the door of promotional saturation by Summit, some of the past snark aimed at Pattinson was undeniably an allergic reaction to the massive commercial success of the Twilight Saga movies. $ 2.5 billion box office and counting—a figure that doesn’t even include DVD/Blu-ray, VOD and merch sales—the resulting popular ascension of Pattinson was viewed by many critics as kind of manufactured consent.

Witness the endless references to “Twi-hards” and fan “swooning” that inevitably accompanies any writeups about Pattinson, even for his non-Twilight roles, in itself a mistaken generalization about a multi-generation audience demographic, and often simply a sexist dismissal of its mostly female component. [The author characterizes some recent Pattinson’s films here, one we think premature, as it has not yet been released in most parts of the world.~BuckyW]

But now, remarkably, everything has changed. To quote an apt phrase; What a difference a day makes. 30 seconds of eye-popping imagery, scenes of Pattinson evidently well out of his comfort zone, have kicked off a chorus of delighted shock and optimism about Cosmopolis, the return of “old-school” Cronenberg, and his rebooted and re-loaded leading man.”We’ve refer the reader here to the original article where the author speaks of how critics made premature assessments about this growing young actor who is still learning, how critics do indeed get things wrong with examples from the past, and finally her wonderful job synthesizing teaser reactions.

We do want to prominently highlight MacKinley’s closing comments, however, because they are simply, quite marvelous:

“So as, we approach April 19, when definitive word from Cannes Festival organizers will confirm whether (or not) Cosmopolis will show, and of course, the film’s actual release (present dates May 23, France and May 31, Portugal)—

what have we learnt?

Simply this: If you want to see the best from someone, whether actor, director, friend, or stranger, put hasty judgement to one side and they might just show you. As the dust of March 22 settles, this much is clear: Robert Pattinson can act.

Go on. Say it. Out loud.”

Reprinted from March 26, 2012 with permission, Page MacKinley and www.movievine.com
Both @pagemackinley and @movievine can be followed on twitter.
Original article at: movievine.com, includes more photos and teaser trailer.

High Praise for LEAD ROBERT PATTINSON’s Performance

Robert Pattinson has received a great deal of very positive praise for his performance as Eric Packer in COSMOPOLIS, straight out of Cannes and all year long. Jordan and Bucky W created a large collection of quotes from critics and bloggers to show this. We'll continue to add to it.

TIFF’s “The Cronenberg Project” – Posts on the retrospective on the director’s body of work [JUMP TO: lookingformorefilmblog.com]

Award and Praise Received by this Site

This blog received the "Twitter Fan Page of the Year" award for 2012 from @TheCultDen. The
#CultDenAward 2012 award is announced on twitter each year on New Year's day. Thank you, The Cult Den (thecultden.com)

Critical Acclaim For COSMOPOLIS:

We’re continually updating a listing of critics and bloggers around the world who have included COSMOPOLIS as one of their best films of 2012. Here’s the summary (as of 4/21/13); see the link below for details.

COSMOPOLIS: (as of 4/20/13)
--Has made **84 BEST FILM 2012** lists;
--Has made the TOP TEN of these lists a majority of the time (82%; 69 times);
--Has made the TOP FIVE of these lists a third of the time (30%; 25 times)

The list goes beyond “Best Film 2012” Notice to include categories such as Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Soundtrack/Score, Screenplay, and others (like our twitter fan page!) It includes both formal awards and other lists & notice from critics, bloggers, organizations.

Robert Pattinson has received a great deal of very positive praise for his performance as Eric Packer in COSMOPOLIS, straight out of Cannes and all year long. Jordan and Bucky W created a large collection of quotes from critics and bloggers to show this. We'll continue to add to it.

This is an independent blog created out of excitement for this film bringing together a talented young actor, Robert Pattinson and the auteur director, David Cronenberg. It was created by kat, and the primary writer since 2012 has been BuckyW, who will continue forward as lead blogger. BuckyW has taken classes in film and literature in recent years for fun, and to do justice to the content scope here at the blog. This included a university course taught by a Don DeLillo scholar. BuckyW is for Bucky Wunderlick, protagonist of DeLillo's 'Great Jones Street'.

BuckyW added two new writers at the end of 2012, Tony and Jordan, and you'll see more of their work in 2013. None of us work in the entertainment world, we come from backgrounds in science, business and education. We are here because we love watching and discussing movies and like to write. We want to support, and introduce others to, quality filmmaking and exciting new talent. We reside in the US and Europe.

Other than as noted below, photos, videos and other such images are not owned by site. The site uses photos and videos that are available on the web. All rights belong to their respective owners and all effort has been used to properly credit to their respective sites. No copyright infringement is intended on anything seen on the website, including media. If you are the original owner of a piece of media and you would like it removed, please contact cosmopolis.filmblog@gmail.com.

Photo credit for the components of our animated blog header goes to Caitlin Cronenberg (official stills from the production), and the rest are screencaps from the production's official trailer and a released clip.

The original series posts and articles and photos (e.g., "Take a Walk on the Wild Side.." are all photos by BuckyW unless noted otherwise) found on this site are owned by the respective writers. If you want to repost one on your site, please let us know and please credit the author and blog.

Thanks to owner of http://fmerob.tumblr.com, for the use of her GIF of Pattinson at Cannes above, top right. Click on the GIF to jump to her site.

Please enjoy the site. This site is an unofficial fan site and is not in any way affiliated with Alfama Films, Kinology, Toronto Antenna or with any of the actors, filmmakers or their management. The characters, story, images and names are property of the writers, author, Alfama Films, Kinology, Toronto Antenna and / or Simon and Schuster.

On this blog we focus on the film, cast and crew, and author in their professional capacities. We may occasionally post other information on the principals that may interest our readers, or content from other sites brought here may expand our usual scope. We make every attempt to not post gossip, or photos taken without the permission of the involved parties.

Our site makes it easy to post comments. We want to make this a lively, engaging community, and commenting on posts is a great opportunity to enhance the site. You all have something to add, especially since many of you have now seen the film or read the novel. We want to hear from you! Note that we do moderate comments, there will be a slight delay to posting once you enter one. Thanks for your patience!

OTHER WORK:
Cronenberg has writing, acting, producing, screenwriter, editor and cinematographer credits as well. Refer to his IMDB page. He has a novel, 'Consume', that will be published in 2013 or 2014.